Ueda et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,722 is directed to a gland packing having a woven rope containing sheet material. This packing incorporates graphite sheets that are parallel to the axis of the seal and to its braided covering. Flexibility of the graphite sheet seal is derived by relative motion of the graphite sheets parallel to the axis of the seal. As the graphite sheet seal is wound about the outer periphery of the element to be sealed, the graphite sheets slide longitudinally over one another.